Author: Boshkezenian Garik

BSEC SUPPORTS AZERBAIJAN’S APPLICATION FOR HOLDING 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES IN BAKU

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
Dec 12 2007

During the 30th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea
Economic Co-operation (BSEC) in Tbilisi, the participating countries
supported Azerbaijan’s application for conducting 2016 summer Olympic
Games in Baku, Novosti-Georgia reported.

During press-conference on 12 December, the Chairman of the Georgian
Parliament, Mikhail Machavarani, highlighted the importance of
making a decision, saying that six months ago in Bulgaria, the BSEC
Parliamentary Assembly confirmed the Olympic application of Russia.

Armenian delegation voted against Azerbaijan’s application. The
Armenian side explained it through the issue that it is unacceptable
to hold Olympic Games having conflicts.

AGBU Press Office
55 East 59th Street
New York, NY 10022-1112
Phone: 212.319.6383, x118
Fax: 212.319.6507
Email: [email protected]
Website:

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

AGBU Awards Scholarships to French University of Armenia

On December 4, 2007, AGBU donated 20,000 Euros to the French University
of Armenia, known as UFAR, for scholarships that will be awarded to 23
undergraduate students studying at sophomore, junior or senior levels
and who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement.

The official ceremony to announce the donation took place at UFAR and
was attended by the Minister of Education of the Republic of Armenia
Levon Lazarian, French Ambassador to Armenia Serge Smesoff,
newly-appointed rector of the French University to Armenia Anne-Marie
Schlosser, AGBU Armenian Representation Director Ashot Ghazarian, as
well as a number of local officials and representatives of various
organizations.

"By this agreement AGBU reaffirmed that quality education is a major
priority in its policy in Armenia. This is also a sign by an
authoritative Armenian organization, AGBU, of its confidence in the
University and the quality of education that it offers," said Minister
Lazarian in an interview with the H2 Armenian TV channel.

Ambassador Smessof also spoke at the ceremony and lauded the
organization’s donation. "First of all [AGBU’s donation] will bring
enthusiasm and excitement to the students and encourage their
success…UFAR symbolizes the cooperation of the two countries…[and]
the main goal of the French University is to develop specialists for the
country, who will become representatives of corresponding layers of
society," he explained.

In addition to funds received from AGBU, UFAR receives support from the
Foreign Ministry of France, the Trade & Industry Chamber of the City of
Lyon and Lyon 3 Jean-Mullen University.

Many of UFAR’s best students also participate in AGBU’s Paris Summer
Intern Program, which along with its sister programs in New York and
Yerevan, offers university students of Armenian descent an opportunity
to receive professional hands-on experience in their fields of study.

Established in 1906, AGBU () is the world’s largest
non-profit Armenian organization. Headquartered in New York City with an
annual budget of $36 million, AGBU preserves and promotes the Armenian
identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian
programs, annually touching the lives of some 400,000 Armenians on six
continents.

ACP AND VTB BANK SIGN 257 MILLION-DOLLAR CREDIT AGREEMENT ON CREDITING OF TEGHUT COPPER AND MOLYBDENUM MINE’S OPERATION

Noyan Tapan
Dec 10 2007

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 10, NOYAN TAPAN. The credit program on operation
of the Teghut copper and molybdenum mine is the biggest one (with
the participation of the private sector) out of the credit agreements
signed in Armenia so far, the chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia
(CBA) Tigran Sargsian stated on December 8 after the ceremony of
signing the agreement between Armenian Copper Program (ACP) company,
which operates the mine, and VTB Bank (Russia). The Armenian prime
minister Serge Sargsian was present at the signing ceremony.

The chairman of VTB Bank Andrey Kostin said that 257 million-dollar
credit for operation of the Teghut mine was provided for 12 years. In
his words, this project is quite profitable for VTB: in addition to
the credit interest, the bank will also receive part of the profit
in the "outside" form of the Teghut company’s shares.

The president of ACP company and Teghut company (which was created
with the aim of implementing jointly with VTB the investment program
on operation of the Teghut mine) Valery Mejlumian said that VTB has
the same investment risks as ACP in the project of the Teghut mine’s
operation. According to him, the risks are related to the fact that
copper prices may fall in international markets.

In his words, the cooperation between ACP and VTB has other
directions as, by the agreements reached by the sides, VTB Group has
the primary right of participation in the projects implemented by
ACP in Armenia. ACP is currently doing geological exploration work
in several big copper-gold mines. The matter first of all concerns
two-three mines in Lori marz.

It was mentioned that ACP and VTB Group already have an experience of
successful cooperation for several years. In particular, the financing
of pre-export of black copper of 15 million dollars for three years by
ACP has been organized through VTB France Bank – member of VTB Group.

OSCE IS GOING TO SUPPORT THE CONDUCT OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN ARMENIA IN CONFORMITY WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

arminfo
2007-12-10 14:57:00

ArmInfo. Supporting the conduct of presidential elections in conformity
with international standards for democratic elections will be in the
focus of the OSCE work in 2008, the head of the OSCE Yerevan office
Sergey Kapinos said at the conference on "Human Rights and Armenian
Realities" devoted to the International Day of Human Rights being
held in Yerevan.

He also stressed the essential importance of transparent, fair
and democratic electoral processes. "Elections are the most vivid
indicator of the state of affairs in the realm of fundamental human
rights and freedoms, which are reflected in the OSCE commitments",
– the diplomat said and added that the level of democracy in a given
state cannot be judged only on the basis of the outcome of elections,
or even the observation of an election.

"A free and fair election competition is the result of a fulfillment
of commitments that span the whole spectrum of civil and political
rights, especially freedom of expression, freedom of association and
assembly. Only when these rights are guaranteed and the confidence
of voters is ensured can we talk about a truly democratic electoral
process", – S.Kapinos emphasized.

Nevertheless he added that establishing a human rights culture is
not the sole responsibility of any single group or entity. It is
a sustained effort that requires everyone’s commitment so that it
becomes an integral part of the government, the administration,
law-enforcement institutions and the population they serve.

To recall, presidential election in Armenia will take place on 19
February 2008.

Shushi displayed in Stepanakert

08-12-2007 12:29:24 – KarabakhOpen

A photo exhibition opened at the Center of Culture and Youth of
Stepanakert entitled Shushi. It was initiated by Bakur Karapetyan, and
supported by Shushi Foundation and Yerevan State University.
All the 111 works belong to the National Picture Gallery of Armenia.

RA FOREIGN MINISTER MEETS WITH COUNCIL OF EUROPE HIGH-RANKING REPRESENTATIVES IN STRASBOURG

Noyan Tapan
Dec 7, 2007

STRASBOURG, DECEMBER 7, NOYAN TAPAN. On December 7, RA Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian, who is in Strasbourg on a working visit, met with
members of the Ago Monitoring Group of Council of Europe Foreign
Ministers’ Committee. According to the RA Foreign Ministry’s Press
and Information Department, issues connected with the developments in
the Nagorno Karabakh settlement and forthcoming presidential elections
in Armenia were discussed during the meeting.

The same day V. Oskanian met with Council of Europe Secretary General
Terry Davis and Chairman of European Court of Human Rights Jean-Paul
Costa.

During the meeting with Marc Schoyer, the Head of the Office of the
CE Commissioner for Human Rights, they touched upon M. Schoyer’s
visit to Nagorno Karabakh and territories adjoining it and the latest
developments in the Nagorno Karabakh negotiations process.

PanARMENIAN.Net

Torosian: international organizations should react to Baku’s bellicose
rhetoric
06.12.2007 14:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ December 5, RA National Assembly Speaker Tigran
Torosian met co-rapporteur of PACE monitoring committee Georges
Colombier and committee secretary Despina Chatzivassiliou, the RA NA
press office said.

Noting that the international organizations should react to Baku’s
bellicose rhetoric, Mr Torosian said that one of the OSCE MG’s latest
statements condemns calls for war but fails to mention the side that
utters threats. He also pointed to the necessity of fulfillment of
PACE resolution of 2005, which records inadmissibility of propaganda
of war and hatred.

`If Azerbaijan is really willing to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict it should put an end to threats,’ the Speaker said adding
that the opinion of Karabakhi people should be taken into
consideration during elaboration of settlement principles.

For his part, Mr Colombier remarked that despite Baku’s warlike
statements, possibilities of a peaceful resolution have not been
exhausted yet.

ARMENPRESS

MKHITAR MNATSAKANIAN ELECTED NEW CHAIRMAN OF
PARLIAMENT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 6, ARMENPRESS: By a vote of 83 to
8 Mkhitar Mnatsakanian, chairman of the Armenian Red
Cross Society and a member of the National Assembly
elected on the Prosperous Armenia party’s ticket, was
elected today chairman of a parliament committee on
human rights and social issues.
He will replace Arevik Petrosian, a former head of
the committee who was elected earlier as a deputy
parliament speaker.
Another candidate for the post ,was Larisa
Alaverdian, Armenia’s first human rights defender,
nominated by her Heritage party, received only 8
votes.

PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR)
395 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]

LECTURE AT NAASR ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
BY LEMKIN AWARD-WINNER DONALD BLOXHAM

Prof. Donald Bloxham, Professor of Modern History at the University of
Edinburgh and currently the J. B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Senior
Scholar-in-Residence at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.,
will give a lecture entitled "The Role of the Great Powers in the
Armenian Genocide" on Thursday, December 13, at 8:00 p.m., at the
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) Center,
395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA. This lecture, Bloxham’s first in the
Boston area, will take place the same evening as NAASR’s Christmas Open
House.

Bloxham is the author of the acclaimed book The Great Game of Genocide:
Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians
(Oxford Univ. Press), recently released in paperback, and for which
Bloxham has been awarded the Raphael Lemkin Award for 2007 by the
International Association of Genocide Scholars.

Interaction Between Ottoman Empire and Great Powers

Bloxham has written, "The project from which the book evolved originally
intended to focus upon Turkish denial of the Armenian genocide, and
Western acceptance of that denial. But it soon became clear that denial
and its accommodation could not be properly understood without knowledge
of how the outside world related to the deeds of the Ottoman Empire
during and immediately after the First World War … [and that] it was
impossible to explain this pattern of interaction between the Ottoman
state and the ‘Great Powers’ in the Armenian Question up to and during
the genocide."

Bloxham is the youngest full professor of history in the UK and the
winner of several prizes and honors for his work in addition to the
Lemkin Award for genocide scholarship. He is also the author of
Genocide on Trial: War Crimes Trials and the Formation of Holocaust
History and Memory, The Holocaust: Critical Historical Approaches (with
Tony Kushner), and the forthcoming Genocide, the World Wars, and the
Unweaving of Europe. He is also author of nearly fifty articles and
book chapters, and serves on the editorial board of four journals:
Holocaust Studies, Patterns of Prejudice, Zeitschrift für
Genozidforschung, and the Journal of Genocide Research.

The NAASR Center and Headquarters is located opposite the First Armenian
Church and next to the U.S. Post Office. Ample parking is available
around the building and in adjacent areas. The lecture will begin
promptly at 8:00 p.m. The bookstore will open at 6:00 p.m.

More information about the lecture is available by calling 617-489-1610,
faxing 617-484-1759, e-mailing [email protected], or writing to NAASR, 395
Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.

RELATIONS BETWEEN YEREVAN AND TEHRAN ARE TRANSPARENT AND OPEN

armradio.am
04.12.2007 15:15

Asked about the concerns of the United States connected with
the increasing cooperation between Yerevan and Tehran, RA Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian said in an interview with Russian Komersant:
"Our relations with neighbors are based on the principle of finding
points of coincidence of interests of our partners, simultaneously
understanding both their interests and concerns. Our relations
with Iran are on a high level. It could not be different; first
of all we are neighbors. We have deep historic ties and today we
have common economic interests. These relations are important for
Armenia’s security. Over the past years we have accomplished a
number of economic projects of strategic importance, among which I
would point to the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline. That is why I think no
country can be worried about the level of Armenian-Iranian relations,
since these are transparent and open and develop within the framework
of international commitments, and why not, take into consideration
the interests of countries important to us like the US and Russia,
as well as the European Union. Sure, the situation around the nuclear
programs of Iran is complex and strained, but it’s not enough for
implementing changes in our foreign policy," Vartan Oskanian said.